Midwest Climate Change Research Center Awards $1.5 Million in Federal Grants

The Midwest Regional Center of the National Institute for Climate Change Research, based at Michigan Technological University, has awarded $1.5 million in US Department of Energy grants for four new collaborative research projects in seven states and eight continuing projects.

The newly funded projects involve researchers from the University of Michigan, Ohio State University, Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Minnesota, the University of California, Kansas State University and the University of Illinois.

They will investigate forest carbon dynamics; interactions among water, carbon dioxide and nitrogen in a grassland ecosystem; the effects of warming and changes in rainfall on root systems and soil carbon decomposition in a grassland ecosystem; and the interaction of elevated temperature and carbon dioxide on a soybean ecosystem.

"I'm very excited by the new group of projects the Midwestern Regional Center is funding," said Andrew Burton, director of the center. Burton is an associate professor in Michigan Tech's School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science. "These new studies will continue the center's and Michigan Tech's strong involvement in examining the way forests, wetlands, grasslands and crops will respond to changing temperature and moisture."

Since the center was established in December 2005, it has supported $7 million in collaborative research projects in its 13-state region.

"The research we have supported will improve our basic understanding of how terrestrial ecosystems may respond to climatic change and will help provide a solid scientific basis for determining appropriate responses," Burton said.

Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to more than 7,000 students from 55 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan’s flagship technological university offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.